


only you

by WelcomeToTheBadlands



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, One Shot, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24755593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WelcomeToTheBadlands/pseuds/WelcomeToTheBadlands
Summary: Ben has moved into a new home after being exiled from his pack of werewolves. He never expected to find love.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 6
Kudos: 75





	only you

Ben doesn’t remember a lot of the last two months, just a lot of pain. He had random spots in his mind that were like that, where he couldn’t remember what happened, but he remembered what he was feeling.

He remembered feeling that same feeling a lot of the time. Fear. Pain. Sadness. It was all something that he became acutely aware of when he was a little kid and he learned that he had this curse that he had to deal with.

Ben had to deal with the fact that there was a curse on the Skywalker family that resulted in a long line of werewolves that included him. Because of course, he couldn’t be born into a normal family. He had to be born to one of the most prolific family of monsters in the magical realm.

He didn’t cope with that so well.

He ended up falling in line with the wrong people. Snoke and the rest of his crew of werewolves were convincing that they would take care of him at first, and that’s why Ben left his family behind. It was years before he realized that Snoke had lied to him and left.

Now he was trying to pick up the pieces.

__

Rey and Ben met during the middle of a heat wave. Ben had just moved into the neighborhood and he didn’t seem to have any friends, so Rey took it upon herself to show up at his doorstep. She wasn’t particularly good at baking, so she ended up making some generic pasta dish that was tasty enough for her to be able to give it to someone else. When she rang his doorbell, she wasn’t sure what she was expecting. She remembered thinking to herself that he was _way hotter_ than she remembered. “Uh, hi.” She said. “I’m Rey, I live two houses down the street, and I heard that you were new to the neighborhood, so I made you this as a welcome gift.”

For a second, she wondered if it was a bad idea coming over here, if maybe he didn’t really want to socialize with other people. She was internally freaking out inside when he said, “Oh, thanks.” He looked a little bit surprised as he took the dish from her. “That’s really nice.” Rey stood there for a minute before he said, “Sorry. I’m Ben by the way.”

“Rey,” Rey said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,”

“Pleasure to meet you too,” Rey made some excuse about needing to do chores and nearly tripped over herself as she got off the porch because she really wasn’t prepared to encounter a man just as attractive as she did. It was a very awkward first meeting and Rey wanted to erase it from her mind.

It was two days later that Ben returned her dish practically spotless.

He was practically blushing when Rey opened the door. “Hi—uh—I wanted to return this.”

“Thank you,” She said. “Did you like it?”

“Yeah,” He said, “it was really good.”

“Great,” Rey told him, “I’m really glad that you liked it.” She took the dish from him and the two of them stood there for a second before she said, “Uh—would you like to come in? I was working on making some lemonade if you want some?”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude,”

“You wouldn’t be intruding,” Rey assured him. “If you want to come in, you’d be welcome.” After a second of Ben wracking his brain, he finally nodded and elected to come inside with Rey.

__

Ben really didn’t do this sort of thing. Talking to people. Being friendly. It had never been his strong suit. He almost told Rey to go away when he saw her on his porch that day, but then he really, really looked at her and he couldn’t really turn her away. It wasn’t just because she was pretty.

Which she was, pretty. There was something else there. He couldn’t really explain it except for the fact that he was drawn to her in a way that he’d never felt before.

Now he was here, about to enter Rey’s home and not really sure what to do. He’d never really hung out with people, which sounded pathetic and stupid, but it was true. “So,” Rey began, “how are you liking the town so far?”

“It’s uh—” Ben really hadn’t been out enough to have an adequate answer for this, “It’s fine.” She gave him a glass of lemonade and he accepted it gratefully, watching her sit down across from him and take a sip of her own lemonade.

“It’s kind of boring if you ask me,” Rey said, “but the weather’s nice and so are the people so I guess that’s a plus.”

“Yes, the people seem to be a plus already.” She blushed a little bit and Ben wondered if he was doing something wrong, or if he was doing everything alright. It wasn’t like he could just come out and ask her. “Have you lived here your whole life?” He asked her.

“Oh, no.” Rey said. “I lived in a town that’s even more boring than this one, so this is definitely an upgrade. Still—I haven’t seen much of the world, so I guess that doesn’t make any difference.”

“Neither have I,” Ben admitted.

“Where are you from?”

“Just another boring American small town, but this one seems like an upgrade. The people are already friendlier.”

“Well I’m glad,” Rey took a sip of her lemonade, “that you’re liking it here.” After the original awkwardness of the conversation died, they eased into something else. They started talking more about their life and everything, and Rey talked about how she was a librarian, but she also did some freelance mechanic stuff on the side.

Ben thought that was cool, even if it was an odd combination. Ben told her about his job, and how it was mostly boring office work and all of that, and for the most part that was true, but it wasn’t the complete truth.

Over the years he had gotten used to painting a picture of himself that wasn’t true, pretending to be an ordinary person that was less than likable and just keep his head down. That was the best way that he could go about things. Even if he hated lying to people.

There was a problem here, though.

He really liked Rey.

He had just met her and he knew that it was stupid to make a judgement about someone so quickly, but he decided he couldn’t really do that thing where he pushed people away with her. So he talked, and he listened, and he had a really good time there until he decided to go back home. “Oh,” Rey said, she looked a little disappointed but said, “Well uh—thank you for coming over and talking to me, I really enjoyed having you.”

“I really enjoyed you inviting me,” Ben said.

He left then, trying to process everything that happened.

__

Rey wasn’t really sure if Ben liked her for the first two or three days that they saw each other in the street. She would usually try and engage him in conversation, and he didn’t always seem like he was really willing to talk to her. But after that, he was the one that usually noticed her first. He’d wave and Rey would smile and wave back and wonder why she was starting to develop a hopeless crush on a neighbor who seemed to not really like to leave the house at all.

She was utterly hopeless.

“Hey, Rey! How are you doing?” He said. He was holding something in his hands and he looked kind of nervous when he approached her.

“I’m good,” She said, “you?”

“I’m uh—I’m good. I just uh—here.” Rey took the plastic box from him and looked down to see a bunch of neatly cut brownies and lemon squares wrapped in tissue paper.

“I uh—I since you made something for me, I wanted to make something for you.”

“That’s so sweet,” Rey could feel herself blushing. “Thank you so much.” Part of her really wanted to hug him but she wasn’t entirely sure if he’d be comfortable with that.

“I hope you like them,” He said.

“Oh I’m sure that I will, thank you.”

She couldn’t wait to see Ben again.

__

It wasn’t until their eighth meeting that Ben asked for her phone number. He really wasn’t good at this stuff and he got nervous easily, that’s why he hadn’t asked before. But he was asking now, and he was fairly sure that Rey would give it to him. He was right. Rey’s face lit up when he asked, and she asked him for his phone so that she could put it in.

Ben couldn’t really get over just how adorable she was.

It was kind of hard to process. When she was done and Ben texted it so that she had his number, she smiled. “By the way I’m almost done with all of your brownies and lemon squares. Sorry that I haven’t given you your container back yet.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about it.” Ben told her. “How are they?”

“They’re amazing,” Rey told him, “I didn’t know that you were such a good baker,”

“Yeah, well I usually like to bake for someone else. Baking for myself just usually doesn’t cut it.” 

“Don’t get the motivation when it’s just for yourself?”

“Yes,” Ben said, “exactly.”

“I get that,” Rey said, “I do really appreciate you baking for me by the way. That was really sweet of you.” Ben wanted to stay and talk more to her but it was getting late, and there was going to be a full moon that night. So after that, he told her that he had to go.

He hated seeing the way that she looked disappointed when he would leave.

But there was some things that he had to do.

Putting as much distance between himself and the neighborhood when the full moon came up was one of them. Transforming went smoother when he wasn’t around other people and he really didn’t want to hurt anyone. Ever.

So once again he found himself alone in a forest, with trees much bigger than him surrounding everything and only flecks of moonlight shining down through the trees. It was so cold out here. So lonely.

Ben had told himself that he had gotten used to it a long time ago, but if he was being truthful, he was lonely.

Really lonely.

He hated it with all of his being. He wanted it to change, but he doubted that it would at any point in the near future.

He changed again.

He didn’t remember anything that he did.

__

The first time she saw the wolf, it was late out. She didn’t think much of it. There had been coyotes that would pass through the area every once and a while. The wolf was big, and it was beautiful. It didn’t seem particularly aggressive, just inquisitive. Rey had never been very scared of them, so she just watched it from her window, and it eventually left. The next night that she saw it, it actually came up her porch. It didn’t growl though. It just sat there and looked out at the night around it.

That was odd, and she was pretty sure that wasn’t normal wolf behavior. But she let it stay there. It seemed relaxed there, and she wasn’t about to try and get a wolf that big off her porch.

The next day, Ben came over. “Sorry if I’m bothering you,” He said, “I was just uh—passing around and I was uh—actually I have no idea what I’m doing if I’m being honest.” Rey grinned. He was stumbling over his words, but it was the cutest thing that Rey had ever seen.

“I was just wondering if perhaps, you wanted to hang out some time.”

“Yes,” Rey said almost immediately. “I would love that,”

“Good, good. Cool. May I?” Rey let him in and he kept rambling on about stuff. He asked her if he was interrupting anything and she said that he wasn’t.

“I just got some peaches from the farmer’s market and made a pie. You want a slice?”

“That sounds amazing,” He said. Rey took her pie out of the fridge and cut a slice for the both of them. He seemed extremely grateful, and Rey wasn’t going to lie and say that didn’t make her feel good. Because it did.

The two of them talked for hours this time.

Rey had never been able to talk to someone for so long and feel comfortable before, but she and Ben talked about everything. About life. About their jobs. About their hobbies and things that they liked. She felt so at ease when they were talking that she didn’t notice the time pass, apparently Ben didn’t either. When he looked at his phone, he looked kind of embarrassed. “Sorry,” He said, “I probably wasted a lot of your time. I just—I needed someone to talk to.”

“You didn’t waste my time,” Rey said, “I really loved talking to you actually.”

“You don’t have to lie,”

“Why would I lie?” Rey asked him. Ben faltered, not knowing what to say. “I mean it when I say that I like you Ben. I like hanging out with you and I really like talking to you.” She said it with such conviction in her voice.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Rey told him, “really. So don’t talk bad about yourself, okay?”

He nodded, a slight smile on his face. “Thanks,” He looked like he wasn’t really sure what to say or do, or how to react to that. Rey wondered if he had ever been complimented in his life at all. Because his eyes absolutely lit up when she had complimented him.

They proceeded to talk a little bit more before he told her that he had to go and he did. Rey hated watching him go.

__

Ben had known Rey for a total of a year and had been developing a crush on her when she found out his secret. It was one of the most mortifying things that he had ever had to deal with. It was a full moon again and he had gone out into the woods, like he often had. But somehow, he ended up in Rey’s backyard and he didn’t know why.

She had seen him and come out into the backyard. Usually he didn’t remember anything that happened when he changed, but he did this time. This time was so different than others that it was almost surreal. Because she talked to him. “Hey,” She said, “Haven’t seen you around in a while.” He cocked his head to the side.

He understood what she was saying. Usually he just saw red when he changed into a wolf. This time he didn’t though. He was present and remembered everything as well as he remembered things in his human form. “Is there some reason that you keep coming around here? Are you hungry? Is that it?”

Ben remembered staying there, “Or maybe you’re lonely. I never see you with others,” It seemed like this was it. And Rey sat down a little bit away from him. “I guess that you are lonely,” She said, “I can relate to that. I mean—look at me. I’m sitting here and talking to a wolf.” He sat down at well, and Rey raised an eyebrow.

“Can you understand me?” she asked. Of course, he didn’t answer. Rey shook her head and then kept talking, “So, since you’re lonely and I’m lonely, why don’t we talk? I can regale you of tales of my loneliness and you can sit there and…be a wolf.” She chuckled to herself like she said the funniest thing in the world. “So uh, when I was a kid my parents abandoned me. That’s probably not the best opening line in a conversation, but I think about it a lot. They left me in a pretty fucked up way, if you ask me.” She coughed and then moved to sit more comfortably. “They decided that the best place to drop me off was at a gas station, like I was trash or something. I was so little that I shouldn’t have remembered it, but I do. I remember them leaving, and I remember screaming at the top of my lungs, begging them to come back. The funny thing is I can’t remember their faces though. But I guess that they don’t deserve that, do they?”

Ben wanted more than anything than to comfort her in this moment, as he saw tears well up in her eyes. He wished that he could do something. But he stayed where he was because he knew for a fact that he couldn’t do anything. “Anyways, after they left me I got put in a whole bunch of shitty foster homes and could never really find a family. So, I ran away from home and ended up here. That’s my life story, what’s yours?”

It soon became clear that she was a little bit drunk at the time. She sniffed and mumbled to herself about how she felt like she was going insane. This is where Ben began to mess up. He moved forward, nudging her a little. She didn’t seem worried at all about him being so close. He just let her stick her hand out slowly and then start to pet him, and that seemed to help comfort her a little. But then she got this look in her eyes.

He wasn’t sure how to explain it. Scared? Confused?

“Ben?”

That’s when he ran.

He ran and then made sure that Rey did not see him when he got back home in human form. He was panicking practically the entire time. How had she found out? How did she know? There were all of these questions that he couldn’t answer, and they were practically paralyzing him in fear.

He knew that he could never show his face again, and that he would need to look into moving somewhere else. He told himself that he would.

He didn’t though.

He kept thinking about what Rey said about people leaving.

He didn’t want to do that.

Instead, he had to do something else. After a long time, he finally got up and looked at his phone. There were some missed texts from Rey.

**Rey: I have no idea what happened but can we talk ?**

**Rey: Ben? Are you okay?**

**Rey: I’m not mad or scared of you btw**

She didn’t text back much after that. Just saying ‘hi’ every once and a while. Ben felt a little bit mortified that he had ignored her texts for that long.

**Ben: Hey**

**Ben: Sorry I haven’t been looking at my phone much**

It seemed like forever waiting for her to text back. In reality, it was probably around five minutes at most.

**Rey: Hey!**

**Rey: It’s okay. I was just worried about you, that’s all.**

**Ben: That’s sweet.**

A pause.

**Ben: I don’t really know what to say.**

**Rey: About the other night?**

**Ben: Yeah**

He felt his heart beating hard in his chest.

**Rey: Yeah, I get that.**

**Ben: You’re really not scared of me**

**Rey: No**

**Rey: Why would I be scared of you?**

Ben almost laughed, he also kind of wanted to cry. Why would she be scared of him? Had the whole werewolf thing not crossed her mind?

**Ben: I don’t know**

**Ben: maybe because of the whole werewolf thing**

**Rey: Honestly**

**Rey: I’ve been in scary enough situations to not be scared of you because of that**

**Rey: and you didn’t hurt me so,, again, why would I be scared of you for something that you can’t control?**

Ben let out a sigh of relief and kept texting her.

**Ben: I don’t know**

**Ben: I’m used to that reaction**

**Rey: I’m sorry, that must be hard**

**Ben: It used to be, but like I said I’ve gotten used to it.**

He was going to type more, but he stopped himself for a second. He wasn’t sure what to do.

Everything spilled out. About his pack. About why he left. He wrote everything down and told her everything.

He wondered if she would still be there when he was done.

He hated waiting for a response.

This time it proved to be worth it though. There was a knock at his door and he practically ran to open it. Rey was standing right there. “Hey,” She said.

“Hey,” He said.

They stood there awkwardly for a second and then Rey asked, “Can I give you a hug?”

Ben couldn’t help but smile. He nodded and she held her arms out. The two of them held each other for a minute before Rey pulled back and smiled up at him. She took in a shaky breath and then blew it out.

“Are you okay?” Ben asked her.

“Yeah,” She said, “Yeah. I’m fine. I just—I wanted to tell you something. And I never had the courage to say it, but yeah.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“I was uh—I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go on a date. With me,” Ben’s head was spinning, because of the complete change of direction of this conversation. “I just uh—you know a lot about me and now I know a lot about you, and I know that you’re lonely and I’m lonely and I really like you and—”

“Rey,” Ben said. She stopped in her tracks.

“Yeah?”

“I’d love to,”

“Really?” She seemed genuinely shocked. It was one of the cutest things that Ben had ever seen.

“Yes, really.” He told her. “I—I’ve actually wanted to ask you the same thing for a while. You beat me to it though.” Her eyes lit up at that.

“Oh my god, thank goodness.”

“Can I kiss you?” He asked.

“Yes,” Rey nodded.

He felt a little bit nervous, shaking before bending down and kissing her. It was a soft thing at first, mainly because he was nervous and hadn’t done that in a very long while. But soon enough, Rey leaned more into it, and the two of them were holding onto each other for dear life.

When they pulled away, Ben wanted to kiss her again. “That was great,” Rey said.

“Yeah,” He felt like he was on cloud nine. “That was really great,” Rey giggled, and Ben invited her in and Rey kept talking about how much she liked spending time with him. And he was happy. Happier than he’d ever been.

For the first time in a while, he looked forward to finishing this day out.


End file.
